[newatthis]

Help, what can i plant around my chicken run to try and make it look nice, i would love to plant some herb plants ie lavender / rosemary, stuff like that and woundered if any plants was safe just in case they niped at it through the bars, any ideas please thankyou so much, i promise i will post some pics of my girls with my new 3.
  As for pepper(she is the smallest and prettyist of the lot), is fitting fit and running around up there, (up till about a week ago thought we was going to lose her due to her going down hill)... 1 week of antibotic's later and a week of chick food, she's fit and healthy...
  i just hope she turns out to be a hen,  i hope all turn out to be hens

[agingchick]

Hi I tried planting some shrubs in my chicken run to give them some shade but most of them have been dug up or eaten the only ones to survive were established plants, a conifer, 2 dwarf lilacs and a prickly bush I can't remember the name of. The lavender plant in my garden kept getting the new growth nibbled. The girls are now confined to their run, so I can have a veg patch this year, and I shall plant round the outside of it for shade.
Diane

[themagicaltoad1]

Hi I tried planting some shrubs in my chicken run to give them some shade but most of them have been dug up or eaten the only ones to survive were established plants, a conifer, 2 dwarf lilacs and a prickly bush I can't remember the name of. The lavender plant in my garden kept getting the new growth nibbled. The girls are now confined to their run, so I can have a veg patch this year, and I shall plant round the outside of it for shade.
Diane

sigh I remember the days when I had a veggie patch (pre chickens). Mine free range round the garden and the only area they demolish with regularity is my d**n veggie patch!

[LittleRedHen]

Good luck.  My hens have dug all but the holly bushes up in my back garden.  There is nothing standing, not a blade of grass, nothing.  Major holes dug too.   

[dizzylizzie]

Quite a few people on here seem to have verywell behaved hens who dont trash the garden, i dont ......its only really an issue at the moment because im trying to sell my house im not normally that bothred that they have eaten EVERYTHING, and what they havent eaten they have very kindly dug up for me so i can remove from their garden cos they dont like it good job i love them

[compostqueen]

I enclosed my run with picket fencing and gate painted a tasteful shade of green and planted it up with purple/orange pansies and dwarf sunflowers, all grown from seed. It looks absolutely gorgeous. It must have lasted all of five minutes    Although they don't eat a lot of things they will pull them up and then discard them    Nothing's safe unfortunately

[dizzylizzie]

mmmmm, i 'enclosed ' them in the garden, but i think they see it as a challenge. Ive clipped my vorverk and cream legbars wings cos they spent more time in the veg patch than in the garden, but now they jump over to show me they still can, cos they make loads of noise, and then when i come to see what the matter is they jump back.....im sure they are shouting 'mum, come see how high i can jump!' ....

[newatthis]

hi thanks for the replys, im just putting plants on the outside of the run up at the allotment, just trying to make it a bit more pleasing on the eyes... i could do a very small flower bed in the front but nothing to much... not sure what the rules are for flower beds up there

[compostqueen]

My girls did that!  Clip them and whoosh out they flew  I stopped bothering    They are really very nosy so they won't appreciate being planted in front of 

[joshbuchan]

haha yes and they will want every worm thats being pulled up!!!

u could allways plant a apple/pear/plum tree in there, make sure u protect the roots with loads of big rocks or they will just dig it up....
and on the out side u could put some fruit trees in big pots along the fence. i try to stick to i plant what i can eat

[newatthis]

i do have a few small fruit trees up there( not allowed full  size fruit trees), i could plants some bushes around the back of the run, might stop mr/mrs fox getting to close if the bushes have a few throns  i will have a look round my garden centre over the next couple of days to see what they have to offer

[Flowerpower136]

They'll have a go at any leaf they can reach, and will dig up anything when they're searching for worms, but if you plant outside the run, the plants should be OK.  They'll grab a beakful if things start growing through, but if you choose strong growing stuff, shouldn't be a problem.

I love my garden as much as my chooks.  But you do have to keep them separate!  And be strong willed and not give in to any wistful looking faces on the other side of the mesh.  See below for my gardening style, and my chooks gardening style!



Those are daff leaves next to the mesh, and they haven't been able to get at them.